


Like Flowers and Blue Skies

by everydaybicon



Category: Dead To Me (TV)
Genre: F/F, and classics like, featuring the much-coveted 'oh no! there's only one bed' trope', jen and judy go to christopher and alan's wedding!, jen has a crush on judy, shenanigans ensue, they're gonna be all dressed up and JEALOUS folks, this one should be fun, well maybe it's a little more than a crush
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:00:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29191947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everydaybicon/pseuds/everydaybicon
Summary: It's Christopher and Alan's wedding weekend, and much to Jen's distress, love is in the air.Whether a weekend away with Judy is more akin to torture or bliss, Jen is still yet to decide.  But she needs to confront her feelings for Judy sooner than later—before one of those other f--king guests gets in her way.(It's not Judy's fault that she's the prettiest one in the room.)
Relationships: Judy Hale/Jen Harding
Comments: 22
Kudos: 56





	Like Flowers and Blue Skies

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! This idea has been kicking around in my head (and my notes app) for sooo long, and I've finally been able to get around to it.
> 
> This whole thing is an elaborate ploy to get them dressed up and sharing a hotel room, which I'm sure nobody here would be mad about.
> 
> (rated M for eventual direction)
> 
> Please enjoy!

“Judy!” Jen called, knocking loudly on the guest house door. “We should’ve been there like half an hour ago! What the fuck are you doing in there?”

Jen moved to knock again, her fist swinging forward and meeting only air when the door was suddenly pulled open, a surprised Judy ducking just in time to miss the blow.

“Did you almost just punch me in the face?”

“I—sorry,” Jen said, a little startled, placing a gentle hand on Judy’s arm. “Sorry.” 

“Not the money-maker, Jen!” Judy tsked cheerfully, seemingly unbothered by the near miss. She flashed her a grin and ducked back inside, leaving Jen to follow in behind her.

“Jesus Judes, last night you said you were already packed!”

The guest house was in disarray, Judy’s large yellow suitcase flung wide open on the carpet, its contents strewn about the floor and the bed. Judy knelt down in front of it, and began refolding the clothes within reach.

“I mean yeah, I _was_ packed, but then I had this dream that I’d somehow forgotten—“

“You know we’re only gonna be like, half an hour away from home right? If you forgot something _that_ important we could literally just swing by the house tomorrow morning.”

“I know, I know,” Judy shrugged as she sorted through the piles, “I just—I want this weekend to go smoothly. I don’t wanna cause any problems for you, or for Chris—“

“Eh, I was looking for an excuse to get out a bit at some point. Three days is a _lot_ of time to spend with people you’re ambivalent about at best.”

“Ambivalent? Jen! You’re his maid of honor!”

“I don’t mean _Christopher_ , I mean like, everyone else. His theatre friends from college, his _mom_ , the other realtor jerks he’s invited, _Alan—“_

“What’s wrong with Alan!? I thought we liked Alan!”

“Oh, yeah no, we like Alan. I just ran out of people to list.”

“Jennn,” Judy chastised, cramming little bottles of natural lotions and organic shampoo into her toiletry bag, “if you go _into_ the weekend with negativity, you’re only gonna _get_ negativity out of it.”

“What’s negative about a little field trip?”

“A field trip’s not on the schedule!”

“That fucking schedule,” Jen muttered.

“Hey, they know what they want, that’s more than most can say,” Judy shrugged, zipping the bursting toiletry bag closed.

“But a fucking 72-hour schedule Judes. It’s got fucking wake up times.”

“It is a _bit_ much,” Judy ceded, “but it’s their _wedding_ Jen. They just want to make sure everything goes according to plan!”

“You know what’s _not_ part of that plan?”

“What?” Judy asked sincerely, looking up from her suitcase.

“Being fucking late.”

“Sorry, sorry. You’re so right.” She pondered for a moment before just shoving everything back in the suitcase, pulling the piles of unfolded clothes from the bed and spreading it all out in a somewhat even layer. 

“Well you don’t have to—“

“It’s fine. I’ll fold them when we get there. It’s only like half an hour’s worth of wrinkles anyway, right? I’ll be out in a minute okay?”

“Sure Judes,” Jen said, rolling her eyes. She crossed the room and shut the door behind her, settling herself on a poolside lounge chair as she waited for Judy to join her.

.

It had felt like this weekend would never come. That the year of Chris going on and on about colour palettes and flower arrangements and gluten free hors d’oeuvres would go on forever, that for every get-together with him for the rest of time, Jen would be treated to some useless trivia about Laguna-based brass bands or which place card fonts were currently trending, how fondant cakes were most definitely _not_ the move and the seven million reasons why.

It wasn’t that Jen wasn’t happy for Chris and Alan. She really was. She was just a little sick of the frivolity of it all, a little tired of Chris rehashing the miniscule details over and over with her because everything had to be _perfect_ for his _perfect_ wedding to his _perfect_ fiancé who he’d gush about _constantly_ and stare at with these big doe eyes—a gaze that was always reciprocated, nauseatingly, with complete unabashedness on Alan’s part. And Jen was only getting a little sick of it now. It wasn’t unbearable, or insufferable, or anything like that. 

Oftentimes, Jen had to remind herself that it wasn’t their fault that if to her, it felt a little like flaunting.

If Jen were honest with herself, her annoyance—or, uh, extremely mild irritation—wasn’t quite about the wedding planning or their never-ending mushiness, but about the ease in which Chris and Alan seemed to navigate it all, how _excited_ they both seemed to be about the prospect of standing up in front of hundreds of people and declaring their love for each other. 

The thought made Jen feel a little ill, imagining doing something like that now herself, the idea of talking about her _feelings_ in front of so many people seeming more absurd and embarrassing with every passing day. 

She wasn’t quite sure how she’d managed it all those years ago with Ted. 

Of course, with Ted, it had been expected. It was part of the plan. The marriage and two kids and big house in the burbs plan. It was a box to be ticked, a day to smile through. Jen had never been the girl to dream about her _someday_ wedding, had in her youthful naivety and newness to Laguna Beach, ended up allowing Lorna to take the lead in wedding planning all those years ago, a decision that inevitably led to the first of many clashes between them, and haunted Jen to this day.

_All that yelling over fucking gardenias._

Sometimes Jen wondered if things would’ve been different with Lorna if Jen had just put her foot down from the start, if she hadn’t bothered _trying_ to appease her at the beginning. But Jen had to try then, for Ted, no matter how much Lorna got on her nerves. Ted was the only family Jen really had back then, and evidently, he was _very_ close to his mom, and appeasing her meant tying the knot a little sooner that Jen would’ve liked.

Lorna’d been very eager to get the whole process moving, throwing constant fits that her friends would find out _‘her Teddy’_ was living in sin with his _‘dancer girl from New York’._ She’d plowed right through the planning, securing Jen and Ted an (apparently) much coveted late-Spring date at her church. 

When the day came, Jen wasn’t quite sure if Lorna’s more questionable décor choices were a result of quick convenience or pure spite, but Jen grinned and beared it, smiled and greeted her guests, was grateful that a few of her college friends had been able to fly out after all, was maybe even more grateful that as the bride, she didn’t have to do any waiting at the open bar.

And although the whole thing hadn’t really been to Jen’s taste, with the wedding said and done, Jen had been relieved, like a weight had been lifted, had even believed for a moment that since she and Ted were actually _married,_ Lorna would be pacified at last, and might be more inclined to give Jen a fucking break since she was actually part of the family. 

_Oh to be so young and naïve._

Lorna’d been a little appeased. She’d maybe given it a whole day before the passive aggressive phone calls resumed.

In quite the juxtaposition to Jen’s own wedding, Chris and Alan’s wasn’t about appeasing anyone but themselves. For them, it was just about cementing their love, declaring it loudly because they wanted to. And that thought made Jen feel a little uneasy.

For some reason, all the mens' talk of writing vows and mutual promises of happy ever afters made Jen’s stomach feel a little funny. And although Jen didn’t want to think too hard about _why,_ she knew that it felt even funnier whenever Judy was around for those conversations.

And Judy was almost always present for them, because where else would she be besides sitting at Jen’s side and sipping on a drink, nodding earnestly as Chris and Alan droned on, interjecting here and there with input that was probably actually helpful. 

And every time Judy did interject—raised an opinion or encouraged one of their sappy ideas— Jen tried her hardest to avoid eye contact with her, tried so hard to ignore the gnawing feeling in her bones that made her stomach do somersaults every time Judy talked about anything to do with love.

It really didn’t help that Judy seemed actually, genuinely excited about the wedding. That on the nights Chris and Alan would come over for dinner, even long after they’d left, Judy would still be blabbing on about the wedding, her eyes sparkling as she loaded the dishwasher and wiped down the counters.

Talking about all the sappy wedding shit with the men present was one thing, but with Judy alone? It had been starting to verge on torturous.

Hanging out with Judy usually made time fly, but once they’d gotten onto this particular subject, it positively _crawled._

Now, the weekend had finally, finally arrived. All of the talking and planning was about to come to fruition. But despite it seeming to have taken forever to come—despite all the times Jen had wished the wedding would just be finished already so they could all move on—now that the wedding weekend was actually finally here, Jen found herself wishing she still a little more time.

Jen had been so eager to get past the wedding, that a part of her had been ignoring the glaring fact that in order for it to be done and over with, it actually had to _happen_. And Jen wasn’t exactly thrilled about that part.

For one thing, she was maid of honor, and while Chris hadn’t really put much onus on her in terms of duties leading up to the wedding, she _would_ have to walk down the aisle alongside Alan’s brother, would have to sit at the high table with the rest of the wedding party, would have to make a _speech_.

And Jen felt way too old to be a bridesmaid (groomsmaid?), let alone the maid of honor.

Maid of honors were supposed to be pretty, perky twenty-two year olds with wide eyes and pink cheeks that would redden, sheepishly, when they inevitably caught the bouquet. 

She felt more than a little ridiculous taking on the role now, was not happy to be on display at all at this wedding, but she couldn’t exactly have said no, not with knowing how much she’d disappoint Chris if she did, and especially not since Judy’d been sitting next to her when he’d asked.

Judy, for one, was ecstatic that Jen was in the wedding party, and had asked Charlie before he headed to school that morning to give her a comprehensive rundown of her phone’s camera settings so that she could get good pictures of Jen throughout the ceremony.

Charlie’d rolled his eyes but showed Judy anyway, smirking at Jen as she hovered awkwardly during the tutorial, raising his eyebrows and stifling a laugh when they’d finished and Judy’d immediately whipped around to take trial shots of Jen, insisting that Jen hold still so that she could try out the different portrait mode settings.

Jen wasn’t sure why Judy was so hung up on getting these photos. There’d be a photographer to get the stuff that mattered anyway. And if she were trying to get shots of Jen to show the boys since they weren’t going to be there _,_ her efforts were sorely misplaced.

Jen had been a little surprised when Chris had told her it was an adults only event. Considering the amount of time he spent with his Jesus troupe, Jen had maybe even expected some sort of Holy Harmonies performance at the reception. But apparently, kids weren’t part of the vision _—‘You know how much I adore Henry, Jen, and uh, Charlie too, but the invitation’s just you and Judy. It’s just, well, not that kind of wedding.’_

But the boys didn’t seem particularly bothered by the snub. Charlie on one hand seemed thrilled about getting to spend the weekend at his friend’s place, and Henry was still young enough to be enamoured by Lorna’s bribery techniques, and was thus looking forward to spending a couple days with his grandmother.

If anyone was bothered by the boys not getting an invitation, it might have been Jen. The boys would have at least provided some sort of buffer, something she could turn her attention to when all the lovey-dovey stuff got a little too much.

But the boys weren’t coming.

Instead, it would be just her and Judy attending together, a prospect which simultaneously thrilled and terrified Jen for reasons that were becoming clearer and clearer by the day.

.

The guest house door flung open, and like the mess had never happened, Judy appeared in the doorway as put together as ever, propping her suitcase onto its wheels and securing her wide sunhat on her head.

She’d even changed her clothes, and was now donning a long and breezy blue sundress and those fucking wedge sandals that despite always making her trip, Judy insisted on loving anyway. _‘They’re locally made, Jen! And look how cute they are!! The little flower embellishment on the strap? Come on. So cute.’_

They did look cute. On her. 

It was _Judy._ Anything fucking would.

“Ready to rock and roll?” Judy asked lamely, unfolding her sunglasses and pushing them up her nose. 

“Where are _you_ going?” Jen asked, unable to hide her grin at the adorable ridiculousness of what appeared to be _Vacation Judy_ pulling her suitcase towards her.

“Maybe it’s only a half hour away, but we’re still going on a trip Jen! We never did get around to Bora Bora. Plus, I looked up the resort, and they have a _super_ nice pool, I was thinking maybe tomorrow—“

“I dunno Judes,” Jen said, shaking her head as she rose from the lounger, “I don’t remember pool time being on the schedule.”

“Hey, you were proposing a jailbreak! I was just proposing a little early morning dip!”

“I’m gonna tell Alan.”

“You wouldn’t!” Judy gasped.

“Hmm. We’ll see.”

“Jen!”

“Come on, come on,” Jen said, rolling her eyes as she took Judy’s suitcase from her, heading towards the car, “let’s get going.”

“Jen, you wouldn’t tell on me, right?” Judy asked, hurrying after her “Right? Jen?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I love hearing your thoughts so much! 
> 
> And yes the title's from the Girl in Red song which I know is gay and basic but Jen is also gay and basic so


End file.
